Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Our Army infantry brigades need heavier firepower -- that meansthe return of the light AVF and upgunned Stryker infantry carriers, sayManeuver Center of Excellence senior leaders recently.Stryker Brigade Combat Teams Strykers IFVs are infantry carriersarmed with .50 caliber machine guns or MK19 automatic grenade launchers MCOE Command Sgt. Major James Carabello claims this is in efficient. "The Stryker needs to get up-gunned; a World War II weapon system on a Stryker? It needs a bigger gun," Carabello said. "It needs something that is a better tank killer than a MK 19 or a .50 caliber machine gun." The need is nowgreater, officials maintain, since the Army plain cutting the number of Strykers in a brigade from 27 to 10 in the US Army. So Training and DoctrineCommand is working with the Stryker program plan that could mean mounting a30mm cannon on to the remote weapons stations on Stryker infantry carriers.This would give much greater firepower and still not require a turret be mounted on the Stryker, Army officials say. The plan is to purchase a company set of 30mm cannons, test them, and also try to determineshould they be issued for every Stryker of have one per company, officials said. "Looking at the fire fights we have had on a continuous basis … we see the need to be able to provide an overmatch in the close fight as well for the purpose of ensuring freedom of maneuver and action of our infantry squads," McMaster continued. While a .50 caliber machine gun can be very effective,"but you don't get a round that blows up and ends firefights."The Army is approaching the problem with the Ground CombatVehicle (GCV) to replace the M2 Bradley fighting vehicle and the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle (AMV) to replace the old reliable M113 armored personnel carrier. However, on April, 2nd, 2013, the Congressional Budget Office(CBO) reported on the progress of the GCV program. The report estimated the total cost $28 billion from 2014-2030, and instead suggested the possibility of alternate vehicle options. While none of these will meet overall army goals desired in the GCV, they offer advantages in being less costly and delayed. Current GCV prototypes are heavy, weighing up to 84 tons, are to be better protected and seat a 9-man squad. Knowledgeable persons have said that a vehicle of that size would not be well suited to operations faced in Iraq or Afghanistan. Alternate vehicles would be cheaper and more maneuverable in urban settings. So the CBO report gave four alternative options:1. Upgrade the M2 Bradley IFV - An upgraded Bradley with better armor and better AT/Weapons would be more lethal than the GCV against enemy forces and survive combat at about the same rates as would the GCV, saving $19.8 billion. Upgrading the Bradley would make it more capable than the GCV. It is a proven design, and it is in place. Downside: The Bradley still only carries a 7-man squad (2 F/Ts) and has less mobility than the GCV. 2. Purchase the Namer APC - From the Hebrew "Leopard, " the Namer IFV is based on the Merkava Mark IV chassis. It already has numerous American components and General Dynamics Land Systems had been chosen to negotiate a contract to manufacture and integrate an unspecified number of vehicle hulls at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio. Seats 9 soldiers with combat survival rates expected slightly higher than the GCV, and costs $9 billion less. Namer has been designed for survivability and rapid repair, with modular armor, V-shaped belly armor pack, and NBC protection. Because the turret weight is gone the armor has been increased, and Namer is better protected from IUDs. Namer is armed with either a M2 Browning machine gun 50 cal or a Mk 19 grenade launcher mounted on a Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station, like the Styker, as well as a 7.62 mm (FN MAG)machine gun, and a 60 mm mortar. Smoke grenade launchers are also carried.Currently an external remote controlled 30-mm autocannon and Spike anti-tank guided missiles is also being considered to be added later. Downside: The Namer has less ability to destroy other enemy vehicles and is less mobile. Production would be conducted in part domestically, but fielding would require collaboration with foreign companies and governments. And its not American designed. 3. Purchase the Puma (IFV) - More lethal than the GCV, combat survivaland protection at better rates, and just as mobile. Purchasing the Puma would save $14.8 billion and is considered the most capable of the vehicles.The Puma IFV is a German infantry fighting vehicle designed to replace theaging Marder IFVs currently in service with the Bundeswehr. Its weapon is the superb Rheinmetall 30 mm MK 30-2/ABM (Air Burst Munitions)autocannon, which has a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute and an effective range of 3,000 m. There are currently two ammunition types directly available via the autocannon&# 39;s dual ammunition feed. One is a sub-calibre, fin-stabilised APFSDS-T (T for tracer), with high penetration capabilities, mainly for use against medium armoured vehicles. The second is a full-calibre, multi-purpose, Kinetic Energy-Timed Fuse (KETF) munition, designed with the air burst capability (depending on the fuse setting) for ejecting a cone of sub-munitions. The ammunition type can be chosen on a shot to shot basis,as the weapon fires from an open bolt, meaning no cartridge is inserted until the trigger is depressed. The ammunition capacity is 400 rounds; 200 ready to fire and 200 in storage. The secondary armament is a coaxially mounted 5.56 mm HK MG4 machine gun firing at 850 rounds per minute and with an effective range of 1,000 m. The ammunition capacity is 2,000 rounds; 1,000 ready to fire and 1,000 in storage. While this is a smaller weapon than the western standard secondary armament (7.62 mm caliber MG), it offers the advantage that the crew can use the ammunition in their individual firearms. In situations where the lower range and penetration of the 5.56 mm rounds is an issue, the high ammunition load of the main gun enables the vehicle crew to use one or two main gun rounds instead. The gun housing can also host the 7.62 mm MG3. The German Puma vehicles are equipped with a turret-mountedEuroSpike Spike LR missile launcher, which carries two missiles. The Spike LRmissile has an effective range up to 4,000 m and can be launched in either the "Fire and Forget" or "Fire and Observe" mode. There is a 6-shot 76 mm launcher at the back of the vehicle for close-in defense. The back doorcan be opened halfway and enables two of the passengers to scout and shootWITH moderate protection. The Puma was designed to accommodate additionalarmor, initially planning to offer three protection classes which are wholly or partly interchangeable. Protection class A is the basic vehicle, at 31.5metric tons combat-ready weight air transportable. Protection class C consists of two large side panels that cover almost the whole flanks of the vehicle and act as skirts to the tracks, a near-complete turret cover and armor plates for most of the vehicle' s roof. The side panels are a mix of composite and spaced armor. It adds about 9 metric tons to the gross weight. The Puma is protected by AMAP composite armour, the AMAP-B module is used for protection against kinetic energy threats, while AMAP-SC offers protection against shaped charges. It can resist direct hits from 14.5 mm (.50 Cal) rounds, The front armor offers protection against medium caliber projectiles and shaped charge projectiles. In protection class C, the flanks of the Puma are up-armored to about the same level of protection as is the front, while the roof armor is able to withstand artillery or mortar bomblets. The Pumas of the German Army will be equipped with a softkill system multifunction self protection system, MUSS, which is capable of defeating ATGMs. Thewhole vehicle is protected against heavy blast mines (up to 10 kg) and projectile charges from below, while still retaining 450 mm ground clearance. Almost all equipment within the cabin, including the seats, has no direct contact to the floor, which adds to crew and technical safety. All cabin roof hatches are of the side-slide type, which make them easier to open manually, even when they are obstructed by debris. The exhaust is mixed with fresh air and vented at the rear left side. Together with a special IR-suppressing paint, this aims at reducing the thermal signature of the IFV. Downside: Puma IFVs only carry six infantrymen (1 F/T), which would require five vehicles to replace every four Bradleys. Development andproduction would require foreign companies and governments. The US Army alreadysaid that the Puma "wouldn&# 39;t meet their needs" but an 85 ton IFVdoes?4. Cancel the Ground Combat Vehicle - If the Army reconditioned its current Bradley instead of replacing them, the current capability of the IFV fleet could be maintained through 2030. The Army could continue toinvestigate ways to improve the current Bradleys, but it would not field any new or improved vehicles. The $24 billion saved in funding could be used on other programs. On July 30th 2013, Army Chief of Staff General Odierno warned that the GCV program may be delayed or possibly even cancelled because of the sequestration budget cuts. The GCV is high-priority for the Army to give better protection than the M2 Bradley, but because of the sequester cuts everything is being considered. Not pursuing the GCV would allow the money to be spent elsewhere.But maneuver leaders maintain that the Army cannot forget about lighter units such as Stryker and the infantry brigade combat teams (IBCT) that currently are not equipped with enough potent firepower to win fights quickly. Leaders at Maneuver Center of Excellence: "Across all of our formations we need the right combination of mobility protection and firepower," he said. "We need to emphasize what is next. What is the light tank that …we can give our infantry freedom of maneuver in action? And we want to up-gunour Strykers. We can see the enemy; it would be nice to be able to kill them."Lightly-armed IBCTs also need mobile protected firepower such as a light tank for forced-entry style Rapid Response missions, Army leaders began saying earlier this year. The 82nd Airborne Division was equipped with the M551 Sheridan Armored Reconnaissance Airborne Assault Vehicle until the mid 1990s. Developed during the Vietnam War, the Sheridan featured a 152mmmain gun capable of firing standard ammunition or the MGM-51 Shillelagh antitank missile. The Sheridan was used in the Invasion of Panama in 1989 and Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1991, but it was considered ineffective as a true AFV since its lightweight, aluminum armor was thin enough to be pierced by heavy machine-gun rounds, and the vehicle was particularly vulnerable to mines. Maneuver officials say they would want a platform that could be air-dropped from a C-130 aircraft. It should have a base armor package capable of defeating 14.5mm ammunition. Once follow-on forces arrive, addition armor packages could be bolted on as necessary.One option could be to take another look at the Armored Gun System (AGS,) of which the M8 Bradford is the result. The complete AGS was never successfully developed. The substitutes did not provide the capabilities envisioned by the original concepts.And these failures deleted the division' s development. The one successful component the M8 requires a crew of threethrough the use of an autoloader. Its main armament is the 105mm Rheinmetall XM35 tank gun. The M-35 cannon is a low-recoil gun. The autoloader holds 21 projectiles with nine more stowed forward near the driver. Fire control is provided by a digital fire control system with microprocessors and a databus similar to the suite on the M1A2. The gunner's primary sight is a day/night thermal sight and integrated laser range-finder in a stabilized mount. It has modular bolt-on titanium armor that is not used in a load-bearing transport. Instead it is transported separately and bolted on later. The M8 can be fitted with three levels of protection: Level I against shell splinters Level II against armor piercing small arms and light A/T weapons, Level III against cannon up to 30mm. The 105mm Rheinmetall XM35 meetsthe requirement to kill t72 tanks. Since this was the AFV most likely met by a rapid response group in combat. Stephen PhenowModern Crossfire Yahoo Group

Friday, September 13, 2013

The 17th Mechanized Infantry Division started as a WWII
MTO with M3 half tracks, deuce and a halfs, jeeps and
various other ETO equipment.Around 2002 I reequipped
the division with Bradley IFV and other modern US
equipment.

The Evil Empire on the Brazos(BEE) chronicles the on goingwars (games) and the diplomaticefforts (Posts/GNN Reports) ofall the known nations (wargamecollections) in my little area of thegalaxy.My goal is to both entertain

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